The pair, who are of Middle Eastern origin, were then led out in handcuffs past their two black Mercedes, white Hummer, a 4x4 Porsche Cayenne and a silver BMW.

The multi-millionaire is suspected of being the kingpin in an international cocaine and cannabis-trafficking ring which has reaped £100million in the past six months.

Police made the rare decision to use a JCB to break in, because the house, in Hillingdon, West London, was a 'Fort Knox' of steel gates, heavily-fortified windows and doors and CCTV cameras.

Officers believe the money the gang made from selling drugs and laundering the cash have been funnelled into building up a property empire.

The pair were among more than 20 arrested in simultaneous pre-dawn raids by more than 500 Metropolitan Police officers at more than 30 homes and business properties across London and the South East.

Sources said the network is one of the UK's largest and most prolific drug trafficking gangs - and has been operating for years.

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An estimated 100kg (220lb) of cocaine with a street value of more than £5million was recovered in the raids as well as substantial sums of cash and several guns.

Among those arrested were men with British, Israeli, Iraqi, Egyptian and Irish backgrounds.

The raids followed more than six months of surveillance and information-gathering by Scotland Yard's elite Special Intelligence Section.

Police revealed that the gang's headquarters was a run-down warehouse with a corrugated iron roof in Willesden, North West London, which operated behind the front of a taxi firm.

The drugs money was then laundered through various corrupt bureaux de change which would exchange the dirty money for briefcases full of 500 euro notes - the world's highest-value banknote, worth around £370.

Officers said up to £4million passed through the taxi company each week under the cover of a legitimate business.

Police refused to disclose the country from which the cocaine and cannabis originated, but said the raids were the final blow to dismantle the network.

More than 20 have been arrested in previous operations, causing "absolute chaos" within the gang.

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Officers have also already seized almost £3million in cash, 70kg (154lb) of cocaine and four guns, including one with a silencer.

As the raids took place, police moved to freeze bank accounts and access to properties across mainland Europe.

Computer hard drives and mobile phones were taken from properties and suspects' cars were searched.

Detective Superintendent Steven Richardson said the operation had been "hugely successful".

"We have targeted the key players in a serious and organised criminal network culminating in a huge blow to the illegal drugs industry in the UK," he added.

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"These criminals have been living the lives of wealthy businessmen through criminal activity and today we have put a stop to this.

"We believe this network has been supplying drugs around the country, earning millions of pounds every week.

"This investigation and today's operation, with the assistance of officers from the Territorial Support Group, will have succeeded in taking out a group of ruthless and determined criminals who sought to profit from the sale of illegal drugs."

Detective Inspector Martin Ford explained how the gang used a small number of bureaux de change to launder their "dirty money".

He said: "They have been laundering between £3million and £4million a week.

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"They will take a suitcase full of £10 and £20 notes and exchange it for 500 euro notes.

"The beauty of the 500 euro note is that it's the highest denomination that is universally accepted.

"So they can convert a suitcase-worth of sterling into a quantity of euros which will fit in a small box."

Among the other raids, 30 officers burst into a house in West Molesey, Surrey, and searched two cars outside.

A 54-year-old man of Egyptian origin was arrested.

And elsewhere, drugs and a gun were seized from an address in Willesden, where a man and a woman were arrested.

A gun, a pepper spray and £2,000 in cash was found at a house in Beckenham, Kent.